Jaycee Dugard: Can She Possibly Recover From Her 18-Year Kidnapping Ordeal?

Can you believe that Jaycee will one day put her torment behind her? A leading professor of psychiatry, says YES!

“People underestimate the power of good treatment to heal people who have been through trauma,” says Dr. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. “She needs to be in long-term, intensive one on one psychotherapy. But it can be VERY successful.”

Despite the fact that Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped by sex offender, Phillip Garrido, who raped, impregnated and imprisoned her — she is already showing many signs of recovery — getting a driver’s license, studying for her GED and spending warm and loving time with her mother, Terry Probyn, half sister Shayna and daughters Angel, 15, and Starlit, 11.

“One of the greatest issues that Jaycee must deal with is her dependence on her captor. She will have become attached to him — it’s called traumatic bonding,” explains Dr. Meloy. When people live in terror and can’t escape and then “the punishment is withdrawn for certain periods, then the person becomes so grateful that they bond with their captor even more,” adds Dr Meloy. “She’ll despise and hate him but also be concerned about him.”

Dr. Meloy also believes that Jaycee’s love and concern for her daughters will motivate her to work through her issues in treatment. “People are remarkably resilient,” he stresses.

We sure hope so for the sake of Jaycee and her daughters! Take a look at the video of Jaycee which appeared on ABC on March 5th.